Everyone remembers the overblown outrage when Marisa Tomei took the Best Supporting Actress Oscar in 1993, just as everyone recalls the surprising lack of outrage over Crash’s surprise Best Picture win in 2005. Highly-memorable upsets aside, however, Oscar history is also full of victorious movies that we simply don’t remember winning, be they crappy movies that happened to snag a random technical Award, likable movies that we never thought of as “Oscar” movies, or just complete pieces of sh*t that had no business being recognized for anything. The following list is a combination of all three — 20 Movies That We Completely Forgot Won Oscars:
20. Pearl Harbor – Sound Effects Editing
How can you give an award to these dudes after they decided not to edit out the sound of 80% of the dialogue?
19. How The Grinch Stole Christmas – Makeup
Also up for the “Most Brutal Nostalgia Rape” Lifetime Achievement Award, as soon as that gets invented.
18. Sleepy Hollow – Art Decoration
Sadly, headless Christopher Walken was snubbed for a Supporting Actor nom. I thought the Academy loved disableds?
17. Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events – Make-up
Man, the Academy hates Jim Carrey when he’s acting well in really good movies, but they frickin’ LOVE him when he’s wearing a bunch of makeup. How…unfortunate. Wait, typo, I meant “f*ckingstupid”.
16. Road To Perdition – Cinematography
Not a bad movie, but now has the same number of Oscars as Apocalypse Now and Cool Hand Luke? I call mob involvement.
15. Happy Feet – Animated Feature Film
Pixar’s grip on this award loosened for a year when Cars came out, thus inspiring their current Oscar-motivational slogan, “Never Forget…”
14. U-571 – Sound Effects Editing
Fun Fact: Jon Bon Jovi co-starred in an Oscar-winning movie. Fun Fact #2: Fact #1 is a true sentence.
13. Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom – Visual Effects
Apparently the criteria for this award used to include “Scaring The F*ck Out Of Us When We Were Little”
12. Death Becomes Her – Visual Effects
Granted, with early-90s special effects, making a ‘hole’ appear in someone would’ve taken months, but as a result this film now has the same number of Oscars as The Graduate and Pulp Fiction.
11. Batman – Art Direction
Batman Begins was only nominated for one Oscar and didn’t win. Even more egregiously, Joel Schumacher didn’t receive an immediate Lifetime Achievement Award the afternoon that Batman & Robin came out.
10. Innerspace – Visual Effects
A clear beneficiary of the Academy’s “It’s Innerspace, why the hell not?” bias.
9. Beetle Juice – Make-up
Hey, sometimes out of pure coincidence, the Academy gets something right. And sometimes, a blind squirrel finds a correct acorn.
8. Wonder Boys – Original Song (”Things Have Changed” by Bob Dylan)
Hey, let’s whip awards at Bob Dylan for continuing to breathe! Wait, this isn’t the Grammys…
7. Cocoon – Supporting Actor (Don Ameche)
TOTAL make-up Oscar after he got snubbed for Trading Places.
6. Top Gun – Song (”Take My Breath Away” by Berlin)
What a slap in the face to Kenny Loggins —
5. Arthur – Supporting Actor (John Gielgud), Original Song (”Arthur’s Theme (Best That You Can Do)” by Christopher Cross)
Perfectly likable movie, but two Oscars from the decade that snubbed Fast Times, Just One of the Guys, and Bill & Ted’s? History will not remember this kindly.
4. Independence Day – Visual Effects
Lost out for “Best Movie EVER SERIOUSLY!!!” to Happy Gilmore at the Middle School Academy Awards that year. (Rage Against the Machine won for “Best Anything”)
3. Speed – Sound, Sound Effects Editing
Two Oscars for Speed and not a single nomination for Speed 2: Explodey Boat Trip? Why does the Academy have against comedies?
2. Dick Tracy – Make-up, Art Direction, Song
THREE damn Oscars for Dick Tracy?? More like, what a load of DICK, Tracy! Tracy is a
person in the Academy, I imagine. So that line was flawless and hilarious. Moving along…
1. King Kong – Sound Mixing, Sound Editing, Visual Effects
Peter Jackson’s painful, painful King Kong remake won three Oscars. Citizen F***ing Kane won one. This list is over.
Others we’re leaving out? Throw ‘em in the comments.
